Passed the SSCP!
Well, since today is the last day to take the current version of the test, my review may not help future prospects.. But I'll give my input. My study material: Reading material: AIO (2-3x), The official book (2ish times read). Practice tests: StudIScope, Skillset (CISSP, Sec+ questions).
AIO: I enjoyed this book. I think it was more than sufficient in covering the topics needed. However, boot-to-ass it didn't cover the scenarios or situations that may be asked for the exam.
The offical ISC2 SSCP book: Horrible read. Ton of grammatical errors. Completely boring. One paragraph would cover 5 different topics in 4 sentences. There were a ton of run on sentences (I counted 5 lines for a single sentence at some point in the book). It was next to impossible to pull much information from this book. I mostly got frustrated reading this.
StudIScope practice tests: I'll never get that money back.. These questions did three things for me: Confused the hell out of me because their wording is almost as bad as the official SSCP. Showed me similar question formatting for the actual exam. Scared the crap out of me because they're so difficult you're almost guaranteed to fail the first time through. Last part considered, it made me study harder.
Skillset: I used the CISSP and Security+ Modules. These questions made me get used to test taking, pick apart questions, and helped me answer questions with a better security mindset.
The two most valuable assets I think: Reading the AIO multiple times and constantly challenging my brain using Skillset's practice tests.
The test itself: It was pretty rough because the wording is difficult and you're always narrowed down to two options. If I would've failed, it wouldn't surprise me. If I passed by one point, it wouldn't surprise me either.
I studied for about 6 weeks for this exam to get it in while the current study material was valid for the exam outline. 2-3 hours a day / every day. No breaks. Experience wise, I only have 3 months in the field.. However my One-class-left-to-go IT CS degree covered all of these domains. This most likely helped me a ton for the exam's 'technical' questions.
Other than that, I'm going to attempt the Security+ next because it seems to be better for job recognition and maybe the CSX.
AIO: I enjoyed this book. I think it was more than sufficient in covering the topics needed. However, boot-to-ass it didn't cover the scenarios or situations that may be asked for the exam.
The offical ISC2 SSCP book: Horrible read. Ton of grammatical errors. Completely boring. One paragraph would cover 5 different topics in 4 sentences. There were a ton of run on sentences (I counted 5 lines for a single sentence at some point in the book). It was next to impossible to pull much information from this book. I mostly got frustrated reading this.
StudIScope practice tests: I'll never get that money back.. These questions did three things for me: Confused the hell out of me because their wording is almost as bad as the official SSCP. Showed me similar question formatting for the actual exam. Scared the crap out of me because they're so difficult you're almost guaranteed to fail the first time through. Last part considered, it made me study harder.
Skillset: I used the CISSP and Security+ Modules. These questions made me get used to test taking, pick apart questions, and helped me answer questions with a better security mindset.
The two most valuable assets I think: Reading the AIO multiple times and constantly challenging my brain using Skillset's practice tests.
The test itself: It was pretty rough because the wording is difficult and you're always narrowed down to two options. If I would've failed, it wouldn't surprise me. If I passed by one point, it wouldn't surprise me either.
I studied for about 6 weeks for this exam to get it in while the current study material was valid for the exam outline. 2-3 hours a day / every day. No breaks. Experience wise, I only have 3 months in the field.. However my One-class-left-to-go IT CS degree covered all of these domains. This most likely helped me a ton for the exam's 'technical' questions.
Other than that, I'm going to attempt the Security+ next because it seems to be better for job recognition and maybe the CSX.
Comments
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rickberr
Member Posts: 66 ■■□□□□□□□□
congrats! The official ISC2 courses are "hit or miss" and it is usually based off what instructor you receive. I have taken two official courses and I honestly barely touched the books. For the SSCP I reviewed the online lectures (my instructor was excellent,) took the StudiScope and CCCure practice exams numerous times to get a feel for the exam and studied the student handbook. The ISC2 handbooks were the best resources for me. I too had issues with the errors in the official books and their just plain boring but they are best used only as reference materials to lookup specific concepts, etc.
